NEW YORK--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed
against Kobe Steel Ltd. (“Kobe Steel” or the “Company”) (OTCMKTS: KBSTY)
and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States
District Court, for the Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a
class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Kobe
Steel’s American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) between May 29, 2013, and
October 12, 2017, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to
recover damages caused by defendants’ violations of the federal
securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5
promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top
officials.

“[d]ata in inspection certificates had been
improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met
the specifications concerned.”

If you are a shareholder who purchased Kobe Steel securities between May
29, 2013, and October 12, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until
February 26, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for
the class. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who
inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address,
telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

Kobe Steel is one of Japan’s largest steel manufacturers and a major
supplier of aluminum and copper products. The Company’s other business
segments include wholesale power supply machinery, construction
machinery, real estate and electronic materials.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made
materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s
business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants
made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:
(i) the Company falsified data on many of its aluminum, copper and steel
products sold to customers; (ii) the Company sold products that in
reality failed quality control tests in violation of laws and
regulations; (iii) the Company’s financial performance relied on selling
products that did not meet quality standards in violation of laws and
regulations; (iv) the Company would incur significant costs and lose
customers if customers became aware of the substandard quality of
products they purchased; (v) the Company’s compliance initiatives,
corporate governance and risk management activities were ineffective and
inadequate at preventing product data manipulation, fraud and other
related misconduct; (vi) the Company’s internal reporting systems failed
to foster employee participation and adequately address employee
concerns, and there was an excessive propensity by senior management,
including the Individual Defendants, to hyper-emphasize profitability at
all costs, that promoted a pervasive culture of corner-cutting, and
looking the other way in the face of compliance violations, as long as
profits were achieved, which deterred employees from making claims over
product quality for fear of retribution and/or management failing to
properly investigate claims; and (vii) as a result of the foregoing,
Kobe Steel’s shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the
Class Period, and class members suffered significant losses and damages.

On October 8, 2017, the Company issued a press release entitled
“Improper conduct concerning a portion of the aluminum and copper
products manufactured by Kobe Steel.” The press release disclosed that
certain of Kobe Steel’s products “did not comply with the product
specifications” and “[d]ata in inspection certificates had been
improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met
the specifications concerned.”

On this news, Kobe Steel’s ADR price fell $0.62, or over 10% from its
previous closing price, to close at $5.30 per share on October 9, 2017.

On October 10, 2017, before the U.S. market opened, Reuters published
an article entitled, “Kobe Steel’s data-fabrication stuns Japanese
manufacturers,” which disclosed that several major manufacturers had
confirmed use of the affected Kobe Steel products.

On this news, Kobe Steel’s ADR price fell $1.30, or over 24% from its
previous closing price, to close at $4.00 per share on October 10, 2017.

On October 12, 2017, post-market, Bloomberg published an article
entitled, “Kobe Steel Scandal Expands Into Core Business Overseas,”
which reported that the Company’s fake data scandal included its core
business of providing steel to numerous international companies.

On October 13, 2017, Kobe Steel issued a press release entitled, “Report
on improper conduct concerning Kobe Steel and its group of companies.”
The press release provided updated information about an investigation
into the falsified data and related wrongdoing and listed numerous
nonconforming products the Company had identified to date. On the same
day, several media outlets reported that the number of impacted
customers had more than doubled from the initial estimates of 200
customers.

Following these news, Kobe Steel’s ADR price fell $0.40, or over 10%
from its previous closing price, to close at $3.55 per share on October
13, 2017.

Subsequent news reports and the Company’s own internal investigation
revealed that Kobe Steel’s lack of quality controls and data tampering
was a result of, among other things, wholly inadequate and ineffective
corporate governance and compliance initiatives.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and
Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of
corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the
late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar,
the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions.
Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the
tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of
securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct.
The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on
behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

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